BalkanCollector

As the title says, I will be posting photos of Socialist Yugoslavia Medals and Orders in wear every now and then. In the first post I will post some of my favourite photos. The first photo is in my possession and it's a photo of my grandpa's uncle. All of the next photos are from the internet. Notice the Polish Partisan Cross. Major Dušan Filipović, 4th Sandžak brigade. People's Hero Ivan Šibl. Miloš Šiljegović with the youngest courier from the brigade, Nikola Zvijerac (11th Kozara Krajiška Brigade). Marko Lucić, Captain of Braća Radić brigade. Milan Tankosić, Major of Marko Orešković batallion. Photo taken in Belgrade, April 8th, 1945. Miloš Milikić "Mido", the youngest Partisan Captain (19 years), later Colonel. Notice the pilot badge and a Polish Partisan Cross. People's Hero Jozo Lozovina "Mosor". People's Hero Katarina Patrnogić People's Hero Petar Drapšin People's Hero Stevo Rauš, Commander of 1st Krajiška brigade. Photo taken in Ribnik near Ključ, 1944. People's Hero Stane Semič "Daki". Notice the Soviet Order of the Red Banner. People's Hero Stevo Došen, Commander of Matija Gubec brigade. Headquaters of Braća Radić brigade Many more to come...

Very nice Soviet type Order of Bravery that I've seen on ebay auction. Very low number also! http://www.ebay.com/itm/YUGOSLAVIA-ORDER-OF-BRAVERY-RUSSIAN-TYPE-No-108-REALLY-RARE-/253159093098?hash=item3af175336a:g:KdUAAOSwy69ZuCNO

Group of photos of a Soviet Read Admiral Grigory Nikolaevich Ohrimenko. He was awarded the Yugoslav Order of Bravery (Soviet production) and Order of People's Hero. His group of awards was sold a few years ago.

Thank you for uploading them. I don't know why I couldn't save the photos so I couldn't do it myself. I've tried saving them again today and now it's working...

Interesting, thanks for the info!

Let's see your documented groups of the Socialist Yugoslavia. Here's a group of my grandpa's awards with miniatures and documents. I've already posted his awards but I've never posted his documents. Funny story is that there's a Commemorative Medal for 20 Years of Yugoslav People's Army on his miniature bar but he never received that medal since he was at the academy at the time the medal was awarded in 1961. He also got a Tito plaque when he retired but unfortunately the document is lost. List of awards by the year: 1967 - Order of Military Merit with Silver Swords 1971 - Commemorative Medal for 30 years of Yugoslav People's Army 1974 - Order of People's Army with Silver Star 1975 - Commemorative Medal for 30 years of Victory over Fascism 1979 - Order of Military Merit with Golden Swords 1981 - Commemorative Medal for 40 years of Yugoslav People's Army 1985 - Order of People's Army with Golden Star All of the awards were awarded on December 22nd. It was the day of the Yugoslav People's Army. Additional award is Distinguished Marksman Medal. There are stamps that confirm the purchase of miniature medals at the back of every document. Another group which I have is a civil one and it was awarded to doctor Knežević. List of awards by year: 1966 - Order of Labour with Golden Wreath 1972 - Order of People's Merit with Silver Rays

Very strange Order of Labour. Unfortunately I couldn't save the photos so here's the link. https://www.aukcije.hr/prodaja/Kolekcionarstvo/Militarija/Ordeni-i-medalje/Jugoslavija/1362/oglas/Orden-rada-II-reda-FNRJ-model/3113687/

I'm not sure, I should definitely try to dig up some more information about those plaques. I suggest we should open a topic dedicated to JNA plaques because I see a lot of potential and material.

Hmm, I don't know. Too bad the photo isn't a little more clear. Interesting photo. Did you notice the position of triangles? They should be on the upper part of the collar.

Ah, now I see. No need to apologize, I should have read more cautiously. You might be right. I've seen similar plaques on a local flea market and I've noticed they weigh much. They were made out of metal and marble with a JNA sign like the one you've linked. Although I think it is a rare piece because of that depiction of armament, it is definately overpriced. Also the plaques I've seen at the flea market similar to the linked one didn't have any documentation.

Now that you've mentioned that some of the shoulder boards looked the same...here's an interesting photo of two officers in a Harley Davidson. The right one is wearing a Kingdom of Yugoslavia Pilot Badge. The photo is not very clear but you can see that it appears to be either Kingdom or Socialist Yugoslavia Pilot Badge. Considering that this photo was taken during wartime it can only be the Kingdom type.

No problem! Unfortunately I don't know if your document has any relation with the one's for retirement. I noticed that the recipient of your document is a sergeant. Maybe the lower ranked personel got that type of document for retirement while the higher ranked got plaque with a different one. I'm not very knowledgeable about signatures but I know that autopen usually doesn't have that natural look and looks like it's printed on the paper. If it looks hand written it could even be a secretary who had made the signature. I could only imagine how many stuff did the high ranking officers and generals had to sign. I guess they had mostly signed top secret stuff and more important documents.

Spot on Paja! Here's an example of a Captain first class of an Anti-Aircrat Artillery epaulletes from the "Partizanska vojska i Jugoslavenska armija 1941.-1953." book.

It actually looks different and is one piece of paper. It was given for discontinuation of an active military service. Photo taken from the internet. The left one was signed by Branko Mamula and the right one by Veljko Kadijević, although I don't know if it is their signature or an autopen.

Soviet Colonel wearing the Partisan Star I. class and an Order for Bravery among other Soviet awards.

No problem! Yes, I've noticed that mistake. It's a pretty common medal and there were a lot of Yugoslav recipients.

Here are two different photos of Boško Karalić wearing an Order of People's Hero on the first and Soviet made Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941. His grandson keeps his awards and is also a collector: http://www.6yka.com/novost/128647/dok-se-brise-istorija-bivse-drzave-unuk-cuva-sjecanja-na-djeda-koji-je-medu-prvima-odlikovan-ordenom-narodnog-heroja-jugoslavije

Thank you Paja! It's been a while since I started a search for this piece. The patience had finally paid off.

Thank you Gerd! Unfortunately I don't know enough about those boxes so I can't know for sure what would a fair price be. :/

I've finally bought my first 3rd class star of this order (IKOM, Yugoslav made type). The hallmarks look good under the magnifier. It looks even more beautiful in my hands.

Great call Paja! Per trimeri

No problem! I'm also having doubts about the wound badge but that's the closest thing that looks like the one on the photo. Also, I'd like to correct the name of the woman in this photo. Her name is actually Albina Mali-Hočevar.

Remarkable group!

UK Military Cross and Republic of Malawi Cross

Beautiful! I love the top one in the middle.